Maybe it's been discussed/mentioned before and I apologize if it has. Couldn't we start a lottery system a month or two before the 1st round. Entrants would initially enter their beers into the Lottery System. Those who are randomly selected are given say a week to pay for their entries. After a week the unpaid are dropped and more are randomly selected to take their place. It would need to be done at the regional level due to a brewer possibly having more than one entry. Cheers!!!

I use a woman's knee high nylon (white & sanitized in starsan). I throw in a 1/2" stainless steel nut for weight & tie it off, then the pellet hops, then tie off the opening and put it in the keg (no strings attached). CO2 to purge the O2 and leave it on CO2 @ 20 lbs. for 7 days @ room temp to dry hop. Then into the kegerator (without removing the hops). Leave it for a day to chill & settle and start enjoying. If you're going to leave it at room temp after its dry hopped then I'd prolly remove the hops to avoid the "grassy" flavor. I always plan it so it goes into the kegerator right after dry hopping so I never remove the hops. The cold seems to stop the "grassy" flavor from appearing. YMMV... Cheers!!!

My well water is pretty alkaline. Last year I had a couple brews turn out a bit on the astringent side and I attributed it to the unadjusted sparge water (Batch Sparge). Since that time I adjust it with lactic acid to get the pH down around 6.5 and have not had the problem since. For comparison here's what my water looks like from Ward Labs:

If you want residual sweetness, why are you adding sucrose which will just dry it out? Lactose isn't all that sweet.

I think 40 IBUs is a good target.

I'm going for that "creme brulee" sort of thing. That's why I'm going to caramelize the sugar first in hopes of getting some burnt sugar type flavours. May not work but I figured I'd give it a try. I know the sugar will dry it out but I figured with a lb of lactose and a lb of C120 I would still get some sweetness. Plus, I did want to get the alcohol up a bit. Maybe I should go with 1/2 a lb of caramelized sucrose for the flavour aspect and see if I get what I'm after without drying it out too much. But, the goal is toasted marshmallow more than anything else (note the vanilla bean in there too).

Just a thought.... Rather than the caramelized sucrose you might consider taking a gallon of the wort & boiling it separately, reducing it down to a pint or so of syrup. I do this with my Strong Scotch Ales. May not be exactly what you're looking for but I thought I'd throw it out there... Cheers!!!

If I were a bettin' man I'd put money on ~1.020 FG due to the pound of C120 & a pound of lactose. IMO, that's where I like them to be anyway. It is a Sweet Stout and you're really not looking to balance it with the hops. 60 IBU's might be okay. I'd probably stick with the ~33 IBU's or just a skosh more... YMMV. I wouldn't be afraid to put a pound of Chocolate in it either. Personal preference I guess. Love that chocolate... Cheers!!!

Wow, that is some serious moisture. I condition the grain with a spray bottle as I am dumping it from scale to bucket. I just spray the grain as it falls in. I always let it sit at least 20 minutes before milling after all that spraying as well. It does make my grain bed seem "fluffier".

We live and learn right? At the very least it is a wild photo. How much grain were you milling there?

+1... My primary reason for conditioning the malt is to reduce the dust, and it works. The real key is letting the malt rest before milling it. YMMV. Cheers!!!

I've got a couple brisket going on this weekend, feel free to send me some of that sauce you're making and I'll let you know how it is

I've asked this elsewhere but for brisket, should I go sauced or unsauced? I have a couple bottles of Sweet Baby Ray's but only cause someone said it was good, never tried it. Personally, I have a low tolerance for acid and I'm not much of a sauce person (I even prefer chicken wings just breaded and seasoned with a little salt and pepper). I don't think I have any bourbon to add to the SBR's sauce either.

Just a personal preference I guess but I'm not a fan of tomato based BBQ sauce on brisket. I do like to make an Au Jus type of sauce with beef broth, caramelized onions and a few other spices. A little, very little, tomato based BBQ sauce with the Au Jus can give it a "special" zing too. Cheers!!!

Yes, That's the general consensus although some will contest its necessity. Others might suggest some wheat in place of the cara-pils for the same purpose. Basically it boils down to brewer's preference. Cheers!!!